He Loves Me Not
by ahsinam33
Summary: Things have worked out and Jellal, now a member of Fairy Tail, is happily married to Erza. But one night, Erza overhears him saying that he had only married her because she had forced him to. What will Erza do now? Jerza and slight Gruvia.


**Hello everybody. I'm back with another Jerza fic. This is my longest fanfic ever and I hope you enjoy it!**

**Jerza rocks!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

**He Loves Me Not**

* * *

"I've never had such a peaceful day at Fairy Tail before," said Lucy as she walked out of the guild with Erza. It was evening and the two were now headed towards home.

"It wasn't _that_ peaceful," said Erza.

"I know," Lucy admitted. "But without Natsu and Gray around, the guild didn't seem half as noisy as it usually is!"

Erza sweatdropped hearing her friend's exaggeration. Though it _was_ true that most of the guild fights began because of Natsu and Gray. So the guild really was a lot less noisy that day.

"But you had to stay away from Jellal today. Poor you," Lucy teased.

"It's only for a few hours so it doesn't matter; I had to stay away from him for a lot longer before," Erza reminded. And by a lot, she meant years.

"That's true... But I should thank Jellal. It's only because of him that I managed to have such a nice day!"

Erza laughed at Lucy's behavior. But she couldn't blame the blonde mage for acting like that; Natsu disturbed her quite a bit... even though he usually did so unintentionally.

Jellal, Natsu, Gray and Happy were currently at Natsu's house. The reason was pretty simple; Jellal had never been to the Dragon Slayer's place before and he was curious about it. So Natsu decided to take him to his house for a visit that afternoon. Gray tagged along because he felt like going along with them and considering that they never returned to the guild, Erza assumed that the four were having some 'guy time'.

"I think I'll go to Natsu's place to check on Jellal," said Erza stopping in front of the road which would lead her there.

"Okay then. I guess you should probably do that... it's good to keep an eye on your husband! Bye then," said Lucy with a wave.

Erza mentally rolled her eyes hearing the 'it's good to keep an eye on your husband' part. Even after over a year of her marriage, Lucy just couldn't stop teasing her. Mirajane had the same annoying habit as well. Though in some ways she was even worse than Lucy. According to the barmaid, Erza's being married to Jellal wasn't enough. No, of course not because now she demanded babies!

"Sure..." said Erza trying to forget about Mira's constant nagging. "Bye, Lucy. See you tomorrow," the redhead added with a smile and then she took the turn leading to Natsu and Happy's house while Lucy headed towards her own home.

It was getting cold so Erza quickened her pace. She'd love to get back home soon and cuddle with Jellal. Jellal used to tease her a lot about her being so 'needy' but she didn't care; she knew he was joking. And even if he wasn't joking, she believed that they had years to make up for. So Jellal could say whatever he wanted to but she'd make sure she got what she wanted.

Erza smiled as she thought of how she had finally got her happy ending. Around two years ago, Zeref and Acnologia had been defeated. Jellal had helped greatly in the battle, almost sacrificing his life. It was truly a miracle that he survived considering the grave wounds he had received. The public considered him to be a hero and in order to keep everyone happy, the Magic Council soon declared him to be a free man. They even acknowledged that Crime Sorcière had helped a great deal and so, Ultear and Meredy were free as well. The three of them joined Fairy Tail and Erza was happier than anyone had ever seen her.

Unfortunately, even being declared free by the Council didn't do much to change Jellal's attitude about his life. The former fugitive still believed that he deserved to be punished and that he wasn't worthy of being loved by someone like Erza. As a result, even after a few months, he was still obviously reluctant to let himself get close to Erza. That is, he was reluctant until Erza decided to take things into her own hands. So after myriad attempts at convincing the blue haired mage she eventually succeeded in drilling into his head that he was most certainly worthy of her. In the end she had said, or rather demanded, "Stop moping and do something about our future!"

So he finally took her out for dinner the next night and Erza was fairly pleased that they had indeed taken a step towards the future. What she hadn't expected was for Jellal to propose to her on that night itself. But she had managed to get over her shock and utter a, "Yes, of course." After all, she had always dreamt of eventually getting married to him. So now that she was finally presented with the opportunity, there was absolutely no room for hesitation.

Everyone at the guild was happy and honestly _relieved_ when Erza and Jellal told them the news. The two got married a few weeks later and Erza didn't doubt that it was the happiest day of her life. What made that day better was the fact that after such a long time she got to see Jellal broadly grinning just like when they were kids. The other Fairy Tail members were genuinely surprised because it was the first time they had seen him so happy. Ultear even started crying and began blaming herself for being the reason why Jellal hadn't been this happy before. She only stopped crying after Jellal hugged her and comforted her.

Erza chuckled at the memory. Ultear would always blush whenever she was reminded about the incident. Her initial excuse was that she had a right to become a bit emotional at her 'brother's' wedding. Realizing what she had just said, Ultear had then desperately tried to cover up the slip but Jellal was actually pretty happy that she considered him to be her brother. Although his saying that only caused the Time Mage to blush even more...

It had been a little over a year since their wedding and Erza was always quite cheerful nowadays. Her struggles were finally over. The Requip Mage sighed in content.

Coming back to the present, Erza saw that Natsu's house was just a short distance away and she quickly made her way towards it. She could only wonder what the boys had been doing for so long...

* * *

"Honestly, I never thought that Juvia could be so scary," Gray said with a sigh. "I don't know what I did to upset her this time but I'd better figure out soon. Or else she'll probably beat me up again. Seriously, having a girlfriend is life-threatening!"

"You're right about that," said Natsu, nodding in agreement. "I face the same problem with Lucy. I don't understand what I do to make her so angry."

"Maybe if you two stopped fighting all the time the girls wouldn't get so mad at you," said Jellal. "Then you wouldn't have to worry about getting beaten up."

"Maybe," the two younger boys grumbled.

"You two really shouldn't be complaining," said Happy. "Not in front of Jellal at least. After all, _he_ has to deal with the scariest woman in the entire guild."

"Got to agree with you on that one," said Gray, sending Jellal a sympathetic look. Natsu did the same and said, "Poor you."

"Oh come on," said an exasperated Jellal. "Erza's not _that_ scary."

"Does love make people blind or something?" asked Natsu.

"Sometimes it does," answered Gray. "Poor Jellal."

"Cut it out you guys," said Jellal. "I'm not blind. It's just that Erza isn't scary when she's not mad. She's actually pretty sweet and we all know that."

"But she's too easy to anger," Natsu remarked.

"No, she's not," said Jellal. "She rarely ever gets mad at me."

"Lucky you," said Gray. "It just so happens that _all_ the girls in the guild like you."

"That's because I'm civilized and I don't fight with other guild members for lame reasons."

"You _never_ participate in the guild fights," Natsu pointed out accusingly.

"My point exactly," replied Jellal.

"Even so," said Gray. "Most of the guys think you're really something to have married Erza. Though some of them were once joking about how they thought that Erza forced you to marry her."

"Well," said Jellal. "In a way, they're kind of right."

"Huh?"

"Erza kind of _did_ force me to marry her. I wouldn't have ever married her if I had my way."

Natsu, Gray and Happy stared at Jellal with shocked expressions as an uncomfortable silence fell about the room.

Did Jellal really say that he only married Erza because she forced him to? That wasn't possible... or was it?

And just as luck would have it, Erza happened to reach Natsu's house at that exact moment. She was standing just outside the door with her hand raised to knock on it. But she had overheard Jellal's last statement and was now frozen in her place.

Erza slowly turned around and started walking away from Natsu's house. She should have waited longer before leaving to hear what Jellal would say next but she continued to walk away. The truth was that when she heard Jellal say that she had forced him into marrying her, her mind went blank. So against her better judgement, instead of staying back and getting to the end of the matter, she headed home.

Back inside the house, Natsu was surprisingly the first one to recover and he asked Jellal in a soft and almost scared voice, "What do you mean you wouldn't have married her?"

Jellal sighed and said, "At that time I really didn't think that things would actually work out in the end. So I honestly believed that Erza should marry someone else... someone better. But she wouldn't listen to me and she didn't stop bothering me until I understood that getting together was the best for both of us. So she basically forced me to stop moping and propose to her."

Natsu, Gray and Happy stared at Jellal for a while and then let out a huge sigh of relief. So that's what Jellal had meant.

Jellal suddenly started laughing. "I scared you guys, didn't I?"

"You're laughing..." Gray noticed. "So you knew what we were thinking. You said that on purpose, didn't you?"

"You should've seen the looks on your faces," said Jellal grinning. "Priceless. Absolutely priceless. After all, it's not everyday that I get to see you macho men afraid."

"We're not macho men!" Gray and Natsu shouted out in unison.

"Sure," drawled Jellal. "Whatever you say."

Natsu growled in response while Gray looked away in annoyance and slight embarrassment.

"But should you really be joking about such a serious matter?" Happy asked Jellal. "You were basically joking about your marriage. I don't think you should do that."

"Don't worry, Happy," Jellal assured. "I wasn't joking about my marriage. Besides, I didn't make anything up; everything I said is true. In a way, Erza pressurized me into marrying her. It's just that she did it in a good way. And I'm thankful that she did."

"I guess it's fine then..." said Happy.

"Let's talk about something else now," Jellal suggested, hoping to get rid of the tense atmosphere.

"Yeah," agreed Natsu. "Why don't we talk about how great I was on our last mission? And also about how useless Gray was."

"What do you mean I was useless?" asked an enraged Gray. "I was of much more help than you."

"I don't think so," retorted Natsu.

"It's not like you even have a brain to think with in the first place," muttered Gray.

"What did you say?" shouted Natsu.

"I said that you don't have a brain!" Gray shouted back.

Jellal watched the scene unfolding before him and sweatdropped as the boys' argument soon escalated into a full-fledged fight. Happy simply shook his head at the chaos. Jellal chuckled. The two had managed to get through the entire evening without fighting. So it was inevitable that they'd start battling each other sooner or later. But he had to admit that the two younger mages fought for stupid reasons.

'_No'_, thought Jellal. _'Their reasons aren't stupid... they don't have _any_ reason at all. They just spew out meaningless insults in an attempt to pick a fight. What a strange friendship.'_

Jellal continued to contemplate on his friends' relationship but little did he know that his own relationship with his wife was in jeopardy... Erza had gone home absolutely depressed because of a nasty misunderstanding.

* * *

Erza was devastated to say the least. She was a complete mess and really didn't know what to think. Jellal's words echoed in her head as she trudged back home.

'_Erza kind of _did_ force me to marry her. I wouldn't have ever married her if I had my way.'_

Did she really force him into marrying her? Erza had never imagined that Jellal didn't return her feelings. She had always assumed that he did. It was blatantly obvious that he loved her too. Though she wasn't so sure about that anymore...

Erza suddenly realized that she had walked past her house in her dazed state. She mentally berated herself for her absent-mindedness and turned back. She had never felt so confused in her life. Just what was she supposed to do now?

Erza didn't miss her house this time and walked up to the door. She took out the key and tried to open it. But her hands were trembling and she had to fumble with the key for some time before she succeeded. Erza then stepped into the house only to feel stifled by the overwhelming darkness. She quickly switched on the lights and made for the bathroom; a relaxing shower would probably clear her head.

But she was wrong. The shower didn't help her at all and she only felt like crying as the water trickled down her skin. Maybe crying wouldn't be such a bad idea. Her tears could mix with the water and nobody would understand that she was crying. But then again, it's not like there was anyone to spot her. She was alone; Jellal hadn't come home yet.

Erza's eyes widened at the realization. Jellal wasn't back home yet. But he'd be back soon and that meant that she didn't have much time left. She had to get into bed before he arrived because there was no way she would be able to face him after what she had heard. She didn't have the time to sit around weeping.

Erza quickly dried herself, requipped into some comfortable clothes and headed towards the kitchen. She was in no mood to eat but she'd have to make some dinner for Jellal. Erza worked as swiftly as she could and when she was done, she left the food on the table along with a short note.

_Sorry for not being able to wait for you but I'm really tired so I'll go to bed. We'll talk tomorrow._

_Love, Erza_

Erza winced when she realized that she had written '_love_, Erza'. She had written it by force of habit and it was nothing unnatural but her current situation was making her think everything ten times over. Erza shook her head to clear her thoughts and, deciding not to waste any more time, immediately headed towards the bedroom. Requipping into her pajamas, she crawled into bed and lay there. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she shut her eyes and tried to sleep.

But sleeping was not exactly an easy task at the moment; Erza's troubled mind didn't allow her to slip into oblivion. She tossed and turned for almost an hour before she finally began to feel drowsy. Fortunately for her, by the time she was finally falling asleep, Jellal hadn't returned home yet. That meant she wouldn't have to confront him; she knew she couldn't.

* * *

"I hope Erza went home and isn't waiting for me at the guild," Jellal said to himself as he headed home. "I can't believe I spent that long at Natsu's place. I'll probably have to find some way to make it up to Erza," he added with a chuckle.

After reaching his house, he took out his key and opened the door. Walking inside, he noticed that the lights were on only in the dining room. Thinking that Erza was probably having dinner, Jellal closed the door softly making sure not to make any noise. He then slowly and quietly began to walk towards the dining room with the intention of surprising his wife. He did however know that the chances of him succeeding were quite slim since Erza was much too observant to actually be able to sneak up on her. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to at least _try_.

But when Jellal finally reached his destination, Erza was nowhere in sight. He looked around and noticed some food on the table with a piece of paper beside it. He picked up the paper and raised an eyebrow after reading the note.

"Seriously?" Jellal wondered aloud. "She fell asleep this early? But it's only nine o'clock. I wonder what happened at the guild that made her so tired."

He looked at the meal on the table and sighed, "Oh well. I guess I'll have dinner and go to bed as well."

So Jellal had his dinner in silence and then took a shower as noiselessly as possible so as to not wake up Erza. After that, he went to the bedroom and crouched beside Erza to take a look at her sleeping face. He smiled and tucked a strand of her scarlet hair behind her ear.

'_She looks so cute,'_ Jellal thought as he placed a light kiss on her forehead and he proceeded to crawl into bed with her. Hugging Erza from behind, Jellal closed his eyes and inhaled her sweet scent.

At the moment, Jellal's life was absolutely perfect. If only the same could be said for Erza...

* * *

Bright sun rays shone through the open window and fell on Jellal's face. He stretched himself and sat up on the bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Looking to his side, he found himself looking at an empty bed; Erza had already woken up. Stretching once more, Jellal got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom to brush his teeth.

After he was done, he walked out to look for Erza and found her sitting at the dining table with her breakfast in front of her. Considering that her food seemed untouched, Jellal assumed that she was waiting for him and he sat down in front of her with his own breakfast.

Jellal was correct about Erza waiting for him because she started eating after he sat down. He began eating as well and a few minutes passed by in silence. Jellal looked at Erza wondering why she wasn't saying anything. _'Maybe she's still tired,'_ he thought.

Half an hour later, the two were on their way to the guild and Erza was still silent. And, much to Jellal's surprise, Erza was taking a novel along with her. Jellal tried to start some casual chit-chat. But no matter what he said, Erza only replied with a curt nod or a simple yes or no.

"Are you okay?" Jellal asked with a frown.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Erza replied.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"But you're oddly quiet today."

"I... have something on my mind. That's all."

Jellal didn't pry further; she'd tell him when she wanted to. And if she didn't, it was probably something personal. It was best for him to give Erza her space.

When they reached the guild, it was as noisy as ever. Just as expected from Fairy Tail.

"Jellal, could you do me a favor?" Erza asked.

"What do you want?"

"If you don't mind, could you hang out with the guys today? I'd like to read this," Erza answered, holding up the novel.

"Uh... sure. Whatever you want," Jellal replied with a smile. Was that why Erza was so silent? Because she was thinking about some new novel she had started reading? If that was the case then he'd be more than happy to let her sit and read in peace. Well, as peaceful as Fairy Tail could possibly be.

Jellal walked off to where Natsu and Gray were and Erza sighed in relief. Honestly, being near Jellal had never made her feel so uncomfortable before. She looked around for a relatively quiet place when she saw an unoccupied table in the corner. Sitting there, she opened her novel.

But reading her book was obviously just an excuse. Erza simply stared at the pages while trying to decide what she was going to do about the things she had heard the previous night. Her mind told her that she had to confront Jellal but her heart refused to oblige. Confronting Jellal wouldn't fix the problem in any way which would make her happy. The impending conversation could only lead to their... divorce. The thought frightened her terribly.

There was another problem as well. Considering that this was Jellal, if she talked to him about the matter, he'd probably end up drowning in a whirlpool of guilt and she didn't want to see that happen. Jellal would never divorce her then; he would give his all to save their marriage so as to not hurt her. Maybe that wouldn't be a bad outcome...

'_No!'_ Erza reprimanded herself. _'I can't take advantage of him like that. But if I don't want to do that then... the only option is a divorce... No...'_

From the corner of her eye, Erza suddenly noticed Lucy staring at her. The redhead quickly turned the page of her book to avoid being suspected. She didn't want her friends to get wind of her current plight. But then again, Natsu and Gray already knew the truth since Jellal directly told them. Happy was with them as well. Then why weren't they telling her anything? All of them seemed to be behaving normally too. Maybe they were afraid to tell her? Or were they trying to protect her? Why did Jellal even tell them such a big secret in the first place? Was it just a slip of the tongue?

Erza groaned. She was now feeling horrible and all that thinking was making her head hurt. And to think that she used to believe that she had got her happy ending at last.

At that moment, Natsu and Gray started fighting each other. Erza looked up to see Juvia jump from her seat to cheer for her boyfriend but then suddenly stop herself. Juvia reluctantly turned back and sitting down again, she looked away from her beloved Gray-sama. Gray seemed to notice this and, while he was busy staring at the Water Mage in surprise and slight disappointment, Natsu punched him in the face. Gray was quick to retaliate and Jellal looked at the two mages with a weary expression on his face.

'_Oh right,'_ Erza remembered. _'Juvia's mad at Gray because he spends more time fighting with everyone than he spends with her. When is Gray going to understand?'_

Erza's eyes fell upon Jellal and she muttered to herself, "But at least they love each other..."

She sighed and actually began reading the novel she had brought. She wouldn't have to worry about stopping Natsu and Gray because nobody cared anymore whether or not they destroyed the guild; Ultear would always return things back to normal once the fight was over.

Sadly for Erza, the book she had brought happened to be a romance novel. (Well, most of her books were romance novels so it was to be expected.) And a romance novel was most certainly _not_ something she wanted to read then because it only reminded her of her horrible situation. She was about to close the book in frustration when Lucy walked up to her.

"Hey, Erza. Want to go on a mission?" the blonde asked, holding up a job request. "It's a simple one and we should be able to come back by evening."

"Um... sure," Erza replied after some thought. Going on a mission wasn't a bad idea; she'd be able to stay away from Jellal for a while. Jellal wasn't a part of their team and he went on missions with Ultear and Meredy. This was because both Erza and her husband believed that they shouldn't stick with each other all the time. Also, Erza found it unnecessary for two S-class mages to be in the same team. But Jellal did occasionally go along with them. Erza looked in his direction and was relieved to see Meredy excitedly dragging the former Wizard Saint to the request board. It seemed she wouldn't have to worry about Jellal tagging along with them.

"Could you do something about those two?" Lucy asked, pointing towards Natsu and Gray who were still fighting. "I'll go and get Wendy and Carla."

Erza nodded and walking up to the two boys, she pulled them apart.

"We're going on a job," she informed and the two got excited, immediately forgetting about their brawl.

"You too?" Jellal asked, coming up from behind with Meredy and Ultear.

"Yeah," Erza replied. "We should be back by evening."

"Us too," said Ultear.

"See you tonight then," Jellal said before he was pulled away by an overly enthusiastic Meredy. Erza watched as Jellal walked out of the guild with his team and, for the first time in her life, she felt slightly disappointed that he wasn't going to be away for longer.

With a sigh, the redhead went over to Mirajane, handed her book to the barmaid, grabbed her trolley full of luggage and then left the guild with her teammates, all the while desperately hoping that the job would help clear her head.

* * *

The job really was a short one. All they had to do was defeat a few monsters living in the forest surrounding a nearby town. And even though Erza couldn't completely forget about Jellal, fighting the monsters did allow her to blow off some steam.

Also, since they fought in the forest, the team didn't have to compensate for any damages like they normally had to. So for the first time in a long time, the Fairy Tail members managed to pocket the entire reward.

And they intended to spend some of the jewels immediately.

"We're headed to town!" Natsu yelled as he ran off with Happy. "Food!"

"That's probably not a bad idea," said Gray. "I heard this town has some pretty fine restaurants."

"You might want to put on a shirt if you want to enter a restaurant," Lucy said.

Gray looked down at his bare torso and muttered, "Damn. Maybe I'll just buy a shirt..."

"But we need to head home," Wendy said softly, nervously looking at Erza. She wasn't sure Erza would be too happy about them wasting time.

"Don't worry," Erza said, smiling at the younger girl. "You guys can go. Just don't spend too long or we'll end up having to spend the night here. We don't want to worry our guildmates now, do we?"

"Thank you, Erza! But won't you come with us?" Wendy asked.

"No... I think I'll just look for a carriage to take us home. I'm not really hungry."

"OK," Wendy said and she walked off with Carla and Gray.

"You sure you don't want to come?" Lucy asked Erza.

Erza shook her head and Lucy turned around with a frown to follow her teammates. Something seemed off about Erza today. Lucy had been quite surprised in the morning to see Erza reading a book in the guild. She had observed the older mage for some time and Erza seemed a bit... dazed. But she didn't seem like she was actually reading the book; Erza seemed to be lost in thought. Also, during the fight against the monsters, Lucy felt that Erza was a bit agitated, almost angry. And now, it was unlike her not to go with them to town. In short, there was quite some difference between the current Erza and the Erza with whom she had left the guild the previous night. Lucy turned her head to look at Erza and found her staring at the ground.

'_Did something happen between her and Jellal?'_ Lucy wondered. _'But Jellal's behavior was nothing out of the ordinary today. Maybe it's something else...'_

"Is everything alright, Lucy?" Gray asked.

"Ye-Yeah," Lucy replied and she made a mental note to observe Erza once they reached the guild.

As her friends walked away, Erza was left to mull over her situation with Jellal. She walked along the streets and continued to think. If Jellal really didn't love her, why didn't he tell her? She wouldn't have had to _force_ him into marrying her if she knew that he didn't return her feelings. Was it that he felt obliged to her? Was that the reason why he couldn't tell her the truth?

Well, Erza knew that Jellal was grateful to her; he told her far too many times and it wasn't until Erza threatened to kick him out of the guild that he finally stopped mentioning it. But she couldn't help but wonder why he was so thankful; she had never managed to save him. She couldn't save him back at the Tower of Heaven when they were children and even when she went back eight years later, she had failed to do anything for him. It was Natsu who defeated him and when Jellal came back to his senses, _he_ was the one who saved her by taking her place in the lacrima. Not the other way around. Later on, if it weren't for Wendy, Jellal probably wouldn't even be alive. And even then, he was ultimately arrested while she looked on helplessly unable to do a single thing for him. Jellal was free now but she hadn't helped him gain freedom. He was free because of his own deeds.

Erza shook her head and decided to focus on finding a carriage. Or else her friends would wonder what she had been up to the entire time and the last thing she needed at the moment was to appear suspicious. She wouldn't let her friends know anything until absolutely necessary.

Fifteen minutes later, Erza was standing on the outskirts of town with a carriage and waiting for her friends. The sun was just setting and if the rest of her team came soon, they'd surely reach home before it was too late into the night. So Erza would have enough time to talk things through with Jellal once she got home.

She had made up her mind that she was going to talk with Jellal that night itself. There was no point in dragging things. What had to be done had to be done.

"I may have forced you to marry me, Jellal," Erza said. "But I'm going to make sure that you're happy. You'll be freed from this marriage soon... I promise!"

What Erza didn't know was that her teammates were approaching her from behind at that very moment. They were still out of earshot and Natsu was too busy chatting with Lucy to pay attention to Erza. But Wendy, with her superior hearing skills, heard what Erza had just said and frowned. Erza couldn't have possibly said something like that. But then again, she couldn't mistrust her own ears either. She was a Dragon Slayer after all and she knew that she had heard correctly.

"Hey, Erza," Gray called. "We're back. Sorry to keep you waiting."

Erza turned around to face her friends and Natsu said, "You should have come with us, Erza. The food here is awesome!"

"Maybe she didn't come with us because she wants to have dinner with Jellal," Happy snickered.

"Let's go, guys," Erza said, ignoring Happy's comment and she climbed into the carriage.

Carla shook her head. "Seriously, Happy. She's been married for a long time now. You should stop teasing her."

"Relax, Carla," Happy said. "It's just harmless fun!"

Wendy, however, wasn't so sure about that.

* * *

After the carriage arrived at Magnolia, Erza went straight back home while the rest of her friends headed towards the guild.

"See you tomorrow then, Erza," Lucy said with a wave.

"Yeah," Erza replied and she walked away.

'_Yep,'_ Lucy thought. _'Something's definitely wrong with her. But what should I do?'_

Lucy sighed. There really wasn't much she could do at the moment. She couldn't directly ask Erza because Erza wouldn't tell her anything. She would just have to wait and watch.

'_Oh well, I'll just have to see what happens tomorrow,'_ the blonde decided.

On the other hand, Erza walked back home fully determined to talk with Jellal and sort things out. She had absolutely no idea that Lucy was suspicious and most certainly didn't know about Wendy overhearing her earlier that day. Not knowing was best for her though; she had more than enough to worry about already.

Erza cautiously entered her house and let out a sigh of relief when she realized that Jellal wasn't home yet. She planned to talk to him but that didn't mean that she wasn't nervous. She wasn't exactly looking forward to the impending conversation either. What Erza really wanted was to wake up and find out that it was all a dream. Sadly, that didn't seem possible.

Erza thought back to the time before their marriage and how Jellal tried to keep his distance from her. Suddenly, a horrifying thought struck her. Was he so reluctant to marry her not because he wanted to protect her but because he loved someone else instead? Was it possible that he actually had a fiancée and wasn't lying before? Erza panicked at the thought of having stolen Jellal from the woman to whom he was engaged.

'_No,'_ she thought, calming down. _'I'm just being paranoid now. That's not possible.'_

But seriously, Jellal didn't love her? It surely seemed otherwise. However, Erza clearly remembered what she had heard and, painfully admitting to herself that Jellal truly wasn't in love with her, she wondered how bad Jellal felt having to stay with her all the time.

Letting out a deep breath, Erza decided to stop thinking and just take a bath. She did so and after that, she spent a long time doing basically nothing. About an hour later, Erza found herself pacing back and forth and simply waiting for Jellal.

Well, waiting for Jellal and hoping that she wouldn't have a heart attack because she was sure her pulse rate had at least doubled.

It was true that she planned to talk to Jellal and was quite determined a while back. But now that the time was fast approaching, she felt terrible. Erza was on the verge of tears now. She really didn't know what she would do afterwards. Jellal was the only man she had ever loved and moving on just wasn't possible. If she had it in her to move on, she could have done so ages ago. So would she have to live all alone for the rest of her life?

'_That's not right... I'm not alone. I have Fairy Tail. That should be enough for me.'_

Erza tried to convince herself that Fairy Tail was indeed enough for her. But... was it?

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and then closing. A short while later, Jellal walked into the room and smiled at her. And to speak the truth, Erza's heart simply melted. That kind and gentle smile of his would always make her feel better. But now, it was only going to make it harder to say what she wanted to.

'_Damn you, Jellal...'_

"How was your mission?" he asked.

"Easy," Erza replied. "And we didn't have to pay for any damages since we fought in the forest," she added, deciding to keep the conversation casual for some time.

"Now that's a first," Jellal said, slightly amused. "You guys never get your full reward. You must be happy this time."

Erza nodded but in reality, she couldn't care less about the reward.

"Here," Jellal said, handing Erza a book. "Mirajane told me to give it to you."

"Oh," Erza said, taking the book. It was the one she had taken to the guild in the morning; she had completely forgotten about it.

She walked into the bedroom and kept the novel on the shelf. Jellal followed her and sitting on the bed, he proceeded to take off his socks.

"Don't you want to hear about my mission?" he asked.

"Go ahead," Erza said. She still didn't know what she was going to say to Jellal so maybe it was better to just listen to him for a while.

"Well," Jellal started. "I'm sure you noticed how excited Meredy was about the job."

Erza nodded.

"She happened to pick out a really strange mission," Jellal said frowning and pulling of his coat. "We ended up staging a play!"

"Really?"

"Yep. And guess who the hero was."

"Um... you?"

"No," Jellal said, his displeasure evident. "Ultear was the hero!"

Erza would have laughed on any other day but this time she just nodded in response.

"Meredy was obviously the heroine," Jellal continued. "And she made me the villain because my tattoo supposedly makes me look too scary to be a hero," he grumbled, taking off his shirt.

'_A really well-built villain...'_ Erza thought with a gulp and she quickly turned around.

It wasn't like she hadn't seen Jellal shirtless before; he was her husband for heaven's sake! But at the moment, he was the forbidden fruit. And that only made him look a lot more desirable. A _lot_.

'_This is bad,'_ Erza thought. _'I can't have thoughts like this now!'_

"What's wrong?" Jellal asked, seeing her turn away.

Erza tried to come up with some excuse but soon gave up. She knew that she couldn't put off the dreaded conversation any longer.

'_It's now or never.'_

"Erza?" Jellal asked, confused.

Erza let out a deep breath and said, "Jellal... We need to talk."

"About what?"

"Well... I... I..."

"What is it, Erza?" Jellal asked. He wondered just what was making her so nervous.

"Did you really have a fiancée during the Grand Magic Games?" Erza blurted out. Her eyes widened immediately.

'_That's not what I was supposed to say!'_

"Wh-What?" Jellal stuttered. Okay, now he was really confused.

"You were lying back then, right?" Erza asked, trying to salvage the situation.

"Of course I was," Jellal said. "You know that."

"But why did you lie to me?"

"I thought you already knew why I lied."

"Probably because you wanted to protect me."

"Probably?" Jellal asked, thoroughly surprised. "What do you mean I _probably_ wanted to protect you?"

"I..." Erza bit her lip. Jellal seemed to be getting annoyed and she just wanted to run away. To tell the truth, an angry Jellal scared Erza. He was always so kind and gentle that an angry Jellal didn't seem like Jellal. It only reminded her of the time when he was possessed and when she had to fight against him. And as tough as she tried to act, the memories of that day frightened her.

Jellal, however, wasn't actually annoyed; he was just perplexed. But he realized that his tone might have suggested the opposite. So he decided to calm down because Erza seemed to be quite worried. She wasn't even looking at him!

"Erza," Jellal said softly. "Tell me whatever's on your mind, honey. Don't hesitate. I'll listen."

"Well..."

"Go on, Erza."

His gentle tone relaxed Erza a bit and she said, "Maybe you lied to me because you doubted your feelings for me then. Maybe you weren't sure whether you still loved me since so many years had gone by?"

An uncomfortable silence ensued. Jellal didn't know what to say. Why was Erza suddenly saying something like this? Had something happened that he wasn't aware of? He frowned. Just what had got into her?

On the other hand, Erza, who was still facing away from Jellal, couldn't see her husband's frowning face and was becoming increasingly nervous... She could only interpret his silence as assent.

'_I see... So you used to love me before. I hadn't misunderstood your feelings back then. You really used to love me. It's just that you don't love me anymore. I was away for seven years. What else could I expect?'_

"You're wrong, Erza," Jellal finally said. "That's not why I lied. I told you that I had a fiancée only because I wanted to protect you, not because I doubted my feelings for you. I knew that I loved you and it hurt me to lie to you. Believe me, Erza."

Of course, what Jellal had said was true. But he had waited too long before answering and the damage had been done; Erza didn't believe him. She thought he was just trying to cover up.

"Sorry, Jellal," she said wearily. "Forget I said anything. I'll go and make dinner."

Erza turned and took a few steps towards the door but Jellal suddenly came in front of her.

"Don't just walk away, Erza," he said with a stern look. "Don't you believe me?"

"I believe you," Erza lied. Having the conversation was harder than she thought and delaying it seemed like the best option to her. She'd talk to him later... when she'd get a hold of herself and didn't feel like the world was ending. She'd talk to him when she didn't feel like crumpling up and simply crying as hard as she could.

"You believe me?" Jellal asked.

"Yes."

"And why did you even say all that stuff in the first place?"

"I... got some stupid idea from that novel I'm reading," Erza said.

'_Nice going, Erza. What a ridiculous excuse...'_

"Huh?" Jellal asked. "Seriously? I don't think you should be reading that novel if it's putting such absurd ideas into your head."

He raised an eyebrow and Erza looked away.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"You don't have to apologize."

"I should make dinner," Erza said and sidestepping Jellal, she walked towards the door.

"Do you want me to help you?" Jellal asked.

"No," Erza replied. "I'll do it myself. You can go and take a bath."

Jellal watched as Erza walked out the door and wondered what he should do. In the end, Jellal went to the bathroom to do as Erza said.

'_What's wrong with her? Maybe I should just burn that book...'_

* * *

The next morning, Erza was already awake and having breakfast by the time Jellal got out of bed. He wasn't too surprised though. The previous night had been quite awkward with Erza silently and quickly finishing dinner and then falling asleep before Jellal could get to bed.

Well, at least that's what Jellal _thought_. In reality, Erza only pretended to be asleep so that she wouldn't have to talk to him. But she couldn't hide from him forever. Living together didn't exactly make that possible.

Jellal made his way to the dining table and, grabbing his breakfast, he sat on the chair opposite to her. After a few minutes had passed in silence, Jellal looked at Erza and waited for her look up at him.

"You plan on talking to me anytime soon?" he asked when she only continued to stare at her food instead.

Erza didn't answer.

"Can't we just forget about last night?" Jellal asked. "Just forget about it. Please."

Erza nodded slowly.

Jellal sighed. Well, at least she answered in _some_ way. He resumed eating but noticed that Erza's food was almost untouched.

"Eat, Erza. Or else we'll reach the guild late," he said.

"I won't go to the guild today," Erza informed.

"What? Why? Are you okay, Erza?"

"I'm fine," she replied. "I just want to read my novel in peace and the guild is way too noisy."

"You want to read your novel?" Jellal asked, not fully buying her excuse. "Are you sure this has nothing to do with you wanting to avoid me?"

"Of course not," Erza replied. "I have no reason to avoid you."

She was obviously lying though; the truth was the exact opposite. She wanted to stay at home so that she could be alone and have enough time to mentally prepare herself to talk with Jellal that night. Erza hoped that an entire day's preparation would allow her to properly talk to Jellal instead of beating around the bush like she had done the previous night.

Jellal looked at Erza suspiciously. "You'd better finish that novel soon," he said. "You're acting really strange."

"I'll try my best to finish it by tonight," Erza said with a bitter smile.

'_It's not my novel that's going to be finished tonight; it's our relationship...'_

"Okay," Jellal said. "I'll leave you in peace then."

Finishing his breakfast, Jellal got up and went to the bedroom to get ready. Ten minutes later, he headed outside.

"Bye, Erza," he said, walking past her. "See you later."

"Bye," replied Erza with a small wave.

Jellal exited the house and Erza stared at the closed door for a while before letting out a huge sigh.

"Today's going to be horrible," she groaned. "I have nothing to do except worrying and moping..."

* * *

Jellal entered the cheerful guild, still completely oblivious to his wife's condition.

"Good morning, Jellal," Lucy greeted.

"Good morning," he said with a smile.

"Where's Erza?" asked Lucy, looking behind Jellal to see whether Erza was following him or not.

"She's not coming today," Jellal replied. "She wants to finish a novel."

"Seriously?"

Jellal nodded in response.

"Oh, I see," Lucy said. "Well, you should go to Meredy, Jellal. I think she wants to talk to you," she added, pointing at Meredy who was staring at Jellal.

"OK," Jellal said and he walked over to Meredy and Ultear.

Lucy watched as Meredy showed him a job request and was sure she heard Jellal say something along the lines of 'no more plays!' but shrugged it off. Erza wasn't going to come to the guild.

'_How am I supposed to observe her now?'_ Lucy thought. _'Something's wrong with her. But what?'_

Lucy snapped out of her thoughts when she suddenly saw a chair flying towards her. But before she could react, Natsu jumped in front her and punched the chair away.

"Hey!" he yelled. "You almost hit my girlfriend!"

"I didn't do it on purpose," Gajeel replied nonchalantly.

Lucy shook her head and grabbed Natsu before he could start a fight.

"Let's go, Natsu," she said, pulling him away. "Levy will handle Gajeel."

Gajeel looked in dismay at Levy who was walking up to him. Natsu grinned. That would teach him a lesson.

Meanwhile, Wendy was sitting at a table in somewhat of a dilemma. She watched Meredy and Ultear leave on a mission while Jellal decided to stay back and sighed. What she had heard Erza say the previous day was quite strange and Wendy didn't know what to do about it. Should she tell someone? Should she tell Jellal?

Telling someone about it was probably the best idea but Wendy didn't want to interfere in adult matters. And this most certainly seemed like an adult matter to her. After some thought, Wendy eventually decided not to say anything for the moment.

The rest of the day at Fairy Tail was nothing too special. Jellal spent some time talking with Laxus since the Lightning Dragon Slayer felt that they needed some 'male bonding'. Well, the two were kind of best friends now. They looked at Juvia who was still giving Gray the cold shoulder and Jellal wondered whether or not he should try to help the Ice Mage. In the end he decided against it thinking that Gray and Juvia would make up sooner or later.

Afterwards, Jellal helped Mira behind the bar simply because he wanted to try out something new. It was a decision he soon regretted though; Mirajane spared no time in asking Jellal when he and Erza were planning on having a baby. And even though Lisanna initially told her sister to stop pestering him, she eventually started teasing Jellal as well.

Jellal was relieved when the two girls finally stopped but he soon forgot about them when he realized just exactly how much of Fairy Tail's alcohol supply went to Cana. He looked at Mirajane and was puzzled at how she could keep smiling while handing Cana full barrels of alcohol. But then again, Mirajane _never_ stopped smiling...

So Jellal basically had an enjoyable day. Well, kind of.

On the other hand, Wendy spent a large portion of the day worrying about Erza. She had decided not to tell anybody anything but even though it was now evening, she still couldn't get Erza's words out of her mind. And Jellal seemed to be behaving normally. What was going on?

"Is everything all right, Wendy?"

The young Dragon Slayer looked up to see Carla with a worried expression on her face.

"Yes," Wendy replied with a small smile. "Everything's fine."

Carla frowned. "You're lying. You've been thinking about something since yesterday. What's wrong?"

Wendy considered telling Carla everything. Maybe the Exceed could tell her what to do.

"Well," Wendy started. "I heard something yesterday..."

Wendy proceeded to explain to Carla what had happened and saying that Carla was quite surprised would be an understatement.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm sure," Wendy replied.

"You should have told me earlier," Carla said. After some thought she added, "I think we should tell Lucy."

"Okay," Wendy said and the two went over to Lucy to talk to her.

"Could we talk to you for a moment, Lucy?" Carla asked.

"Sure," the Celestial mage replied. "What is it?"

Wendy narrated the incident to Lucy and the blonde was immediately convinced that something serious had happened.

"I knew something was wrong with Erza," Lucy said. "She wasn't herself yesterday and she didn't even come to the guild today. Something must have happened between her and Jellal."

"But Jellal is acting perfectly normal," Carla pointed out.

"That's confusing me too," Lucy admitted.

"So, what should we do?" Wendy asked.

"There's only one thing we can do now," Lucy replied. "We have to talk to Jellal. Let's go."

"Right now?" Wendy asked nervously.

"Yes," Lucy answered. "Don't worry. I'll do the talking."

Lucy, Wendy and Carla went to Jellal who was sitting at a table talking with Natsu and Gray.

"Jellal, could we talk to you?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, sure," Jellal said.

"Come over here," Lucy said, walking away from the table and standing a short distance away from it.

Jellal walked over to her slightly confused that she wanted to speak in private. When Wendy and Carla came as well, he looked at them and asked, "What can I do for you three? Or did I do something wrong?"

"I don't know if you did something wrong," Lucy said. "That's what you're going to tell us."

Jellal gave a her questioning look and Lucy told him what Wendy had told her.

"What?" he asked in disbelief. "Erza said something like that? Are you serious? You've got to be joking."

"I'm not lying, Jellal," Wendy said. "And I didn't hear wrong either."

"I know you're not lying," Jellal said. "But it's hard to believe. Where did she get such a crazy idea from?"

Jellal recalled his and Erza's conversation from the previous night and frowned. Considering the things she had told him then, it was highly possible that what Wendy had heard was correct. But it barely made any sense.

"Erza thinks she forced Jellal to marry her?" Natsu asked, walking towards them with Gray.

"Apparently," Lucy replied. "Wait. You heard us?"

"I'm a Dragon Slayer," Natsu simply said.

"Oh. Right."

"Back to the point," said Gray, "Erza thinks she forced Jellal to marry her. Why does it seem like I heard something like that before?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at Jellal.

"What do you mean?" Jellal asked.

"Isn't that what you told us at my house?" Natsu asked.

Jellal nodded, remembering what he had told them that day and then his eyes widened in sudden realization. Erza couldn't have possibly heard him that day... or had she?

"Hey, Lucy," Jellal said, now starting to panic. "Do you know when Erza left the guild the day before yesterday?"

"Around 7:30. Why?"

"Do you know whether she went straight back home or not?" Jellal asked.

"I was with her that evening," Lucy replied. "She didn't go straight back home. She went to Natsu's house to pick you up. Aren't you supposed to know that?"

"Erza didn't go to my house that night," Natsu said.

"I think she did..." Jellal murmured, his face visibly paling after realizing what must have happened.

"Hey, Jellal. You don't look too well," Wendy said in concern, looking up at him.

"I have to go," Jellal said and he ran out of the guild at full speed. Once he reached the door, he used Meteor and speedily flew off.

Lucy, Wendy and Carla looked at the door in amazement and shock.

"What happened to Jellal?" Happy asked, walking up to them. "I've never seen him in such a hurry before."

"Where were you?" Natsu questioned.

"Mira gave me a fish."

"Oh."

"So what happened to Jellal?"

Natsu looked at Gray and then looked at the girls who wanted to know the same. He could only wonder how they would react when he and Gray told them just what exactly had happened.

* * *

Jellal panted heavily as he stood before the front door of his house. He had reached there as fast as he could but he needed to catch his breath before he went inside to talk with Erza. However, what he really wanted to do was to beat himself up. How could he have let something like this happen? But then again, what were the chances of Erza hearing him that day? And she most certainly hadn't heard what he had said afterwards. She must have left before Jellal explained himself. Seriously, what were the chances of something like that happening?

Jellal felt pained that Erza actually believed that he married her only because she forced him to. She thought he didn't love her. She thought _he_ didn't love _her_. How could she possibly believe that?

"I can't blame her though," Jellal muttered. "It's all my fault. But I'm going to fix this mess."

Having caught his breath, Jellal opened the door and entered the house. He quietly walked in and looked for Erza. Walking into the living room, he saw Erza standing at the kitchen counter cutting some vegetables. Considering that she hadn't noticed him yet, Jellal decided to sneak up on her. She was lost in thought; he'd succeed.

"Hey," Jellal murmured, hugging Erza from behind.

Erza started in surprise and tightened her grip on the knife but relaxed slightly when she realized that it was only Jellal.

"Whoa," Jellal said, taking the knife from her hand and keeping it on the counter. "I'm no enemy."

"Sorry," Erza said. "You surprised me. You're home early."

"I'm not that early," Jellal said, turning his head to look at the clock. "It's 7:15."

Erza didn't say anything in response and picked up the knife again. Jellal realized with a pang of guilt that Erza was quite stiff and uncomfortable.

"So," Jellal said. "How was your day, Mrs. Fernandes?"

Erza inwardly cringed. _'Mrs. Fernandes... You're torturing me, Jellal...'_

"Did you finish your novel?" Jellal asked.

"Yes. I did."

Jellal knew she was lying. She probably wasn't even reading the book. It was just an excuse which he was stupid enough to fall for.

"Erza," Jellal said with a stern voice. "You can drop the act now."

Erza furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

"I know you're lying."

Erza froze. How did he figure out that she was lying?

"You think you forced me to marry you. You think that I don't love you. Am I right?"

"Wh-What?" Erza stuttered.

'_I'm not ready for this conversation yet! But I don't think I'll ever be ready for this... More importantly, how did Jellal figure out?!'_

Jellal took the knife from Erza's hand and put it down. Grabbing Erza by the shoulders, he then turned her around so that she was facing him. Seeing her bewildered look, he decided to elaborate.

"Wendy overheard you talking to yourself yesterday," Jellal said.

"Huh?"

"She overheard you saying something about you wanting to free me from our marriage since you forced me to marry you."

"Oh," Erza mumbled in realization and bowed her head. Wendy had overheard her; she should have been more careful. But did that really matter? Jellal knew now; it was all over for her.

"You went to Natsu's house that day, didn't you?" Jellal asked.

"I did," Erza replied softly.

"And you heard me talking to the guys, right?"

Erza nodded.

"How much did you hear?"

"Does it even matter?"

"Yes, it does," Jellal said. "How much did you hear?"

Erza remained silent for a while before painfully replying, "You said that I forced you to marry me and that you wouldn't have ever married me otherwise."

"And you left after hearing that?"

"Yes."

"So you didn't hear what I said after that?"

"What could you have possibly said after that?" Erza asked looking down, her bangs covering her eyes.

"I'll tell you what I said," Jellal replied and he proceeded to tell her exactly what he had told the boys that day.

Erza looked up at Jellal and eyed him carefully. "You made that up."

"What?" Jellal asked, surprised at her reaction. "What makes you think I made that up?"

"What you just said is ridiculous," Erza said.

"It's not! Okay, maybe a little... But I'm not lying, Erza! That's what happened that day. I was just messing with the guys, that's all."

Erza didn't seem too convinced.

"Look, Erza," Jellal said. "If I really was making this up, then that would mean that I actually told Natsu and Gray that I only married you because you forced me to. Then don't you think that they would have told you something about this by now?"

"I don't know. Maybe they're trying to protect me."

"What?" Jellal asked incredulously. "Oh come on, Erza! Not telling you something this important wouldn't protect you. And even Happy was there. He wouldn't lie to you."

"Maybe you're right," Erza said. "But how do I know that you didn't lie to _them_ that day?"

Jellal stared at Erza in disbelief. He had managed to get himself in a real mess; Erza didn't believe him at all!

"Erza," Jellal said in a soft voice. "I love you. Believe me, I love you. After everything we've been through, how could you possibly think that I don't? I've loved you since we were slaves at the Tower. I've always loved you, I still do and I promise you that I always will. Believe me, Erza."

"I want to believe you, Jellal," Erza said, her voice cracking. "I really do. But I don't think I can..."

"But why? You never had doubts before. You knew how I felt about you years before I finally told you."

"You loved me before," Erza said. "I know that. But I was absent for seven years. I don't think you love me anymore."

Jellal let out a bitter laugh. "How could you say that? I was a villain for eight years and you never stopped loving me. And you think that I'd fall out of love just because you weren't around for a while?"

"We're not the same person."

"But I love you just as much as you love me," Jellal said firmly. "I thought of you during every waking moment those seven years. I never forgot about you. I never stopped loving you. Go and ask Ultear and Meredy if you want. They'll tell you."

Erza averted her eyes. She really wanted to believe Jellal but what he was telling her seemed too good to be true. She had spent so long thinking that Jellal didn't love her that now it was hard for her to believe that this was all just a misunderstanding. But what he was saying made sense... Erza was slowly beginning to consider that Jellal really was telling the truth. Maybe she was the one who had misinterpreted his words.

When Erza remained silent Jellal added, "I'm terrible at lying. Do you seriously think that I could live a lie for so long?"

Erza looked up at Jellal with moist eyes. "That's right..." she said with a small smile. "There's no way you could lie for so long without me noticing."

Jellal blinked. "So... you believe me?"

"I... If I ask Natsu, he'll tell me the same thing you told me, right?"

"Yes, Erza. I assure you."

"And you're telling me the truth?"

"Yes."

"Good... Because I don't think my heart can take this anymore."

Jellal smiled. _'I finally managed to convince her.'_

He tucked a strand of Erza's hair behind her ear and leaning down, he placed a soft kiss on her lips. _'Everything should be okay now,'_ he thought.

But when he pulled away, he saw tears streaming down Erza's face.

"I love you so much, Jellal!" she sobbed. "Please don't ever leave me!"

Jellal immediately pulled her into a strong embrace. Erza wrapped her hands around him tightly and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"Don't cry, Erza," Jellal said softly, gently stroking Erza's hair. "I love you too. I'll never leave you. I promise."

"I'm so glad you're still mine," Erza mumbled.

"I was always yours, sweetie."

"I love you so much, Jellal."

"I know. I love you too."

The two remained silent for some time until Erza finally stopped crying. Jellal rubbed her back and asked, "You okay now?"

"I guess," Erza replied with a sniff.

"Good."

"You smell good, you know that?"

"Seriously?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes... I thought I'd never get to hug you again, Jellal."

Jellal frowned. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm really sorry for making you go through such an ordeal for the past few days. I promised myself that I'd never hurt you again but I did it once again. I–"

"Jellal," Erza said, cutting him off. She pulled away from him to look him in the face and continued, "Stop apologizing. Don't you dare feel guilty about this. The last thing I need right now is for you to start blaming yourself. It's my fault for jumping to conclusions. So don't apologize and don't blame yourself. Understand?"

Jellal looked at her for a moment before letting out a chuckle. "Now that's my Erza. You've got that commanding tone of yours back."

"What? No, I'm not _commanding_ you..."

"I know, I know," Jellal said with a smile. "I didn't mean it as an insult. But don't tell me not to apologize because some blame rests on me too. So I'm sorry."

Erza sighed. "You never stop apologizing," she muttered. "Oh well, I'm sorry too. Now that we've both apologized, let's stop talking about this. I feel a bit embarrassed..."

"OK," said Jellal. "Whatever you want. But I think this little incident should strengthen the bond between the two of us."

"Hmmm," Erza said as she nodded in agreement. "I suppose that's true. And I used to think that our bond was so strong that there's no way we could ever strengthen it further."

"That's what I used to think too," Jellal said with a laugh. Tilting his head to look behind Erza, he said, "You were making dinner, weren't you? Let me help you."

"I can do it myself, Jellal."

"I know that. But I want to help you and since you didn't let me help yesterday, I'm making dinner tonight no matter what you say. I'm not a bad cook, you know."

"I know," Erza said, smiling. "You're an excellent cook. So let's start, shall we?"

Jellal was glad to see Erza smiling again and Erza herself felt relieved. She had been worrying for nothing. Her husband loved her and she couldn't be happier.

Needless to say, the two had an excellent night.

* * *

The next morning, when Erza and Jellal walked into the guild together, many of the Fairy Tail members started cheering. Natsu and Gray had explained the situation to them the previous night and Erza's smiling face that morning made it obvious that the misunderstanding had been cleared. Hence the cheering.

"All's well that ends well," Lucy said with a smile after Jellal narrated the entire story to them. "It's good to see you back to normal, Erza."

"Sorry to have worried you," Erza said apologetically. "I really created a huge mess this time."

"Maybe," said Ultear. "But it's kind of your husband's fault for saying something like that in the first place. Honestly, you sure know how to get into trouble, Jellal."

"Oh, cut him some slack," Meredy said. "He didn't do it on purpose."

"When did you two hear about this?" Jellal asked, deciding not to comment on Ultear's words. She'd most probably lecture him afterwards anyway...

"Natsu told us when we came back from our mission last night," Ultear replied.

"Mission, huh? You went to perform in a _play_," Jellal mocked.

"So what?" Ultear retorted. "It makes my daughter happy so why not?"

Meredy giggled.

"What?" Ultear asked.

"I like it when you call me your daughter, _mom_."

"Hey! Don't call me _mom_! I'm not that old," Ultear grumbled.

Erza laughed at the exchange between the two. It felt so good to be laughing again...

"Fight me, Jellal!" Natsu suddenly shouted.

"No," Jellal replied as usual.

"Oh come on! Erza's in a good mood today. It's the perfect day for a guild fight!"

Several heads turned towards them at the mention of the words 'guild fight'.

"Well..." Jellal said, considering the proposal. "OK. Guild fight!" he yelled.

"What?" Erza asked in disbelief while Natsu started jumping in anticipation. "You're going to fight?"

"Why? You afraid I'm going to lose?" Jellal asked with a smirk.

"No, I'm not worried about you losing. It's just that you never fight. So what happened today?"

"I just feel like it," Jellal replied. Leaning a bit closer to her, he added, "And I'm giving you the chance to cheer for your husband. Enjoy."

Erza blushed and Lucy suppressed a laugh. _'They're so cute,'_ the blonde thought.

"Let's see what you can do, Dragon Slayer," Jellal told Natsu in a challenging tone.

Natsu charged at Jellal and Gray soon jumped in to join the fight. Within a few moments, most of the Fairy Tail members came running as well. Lucy and Wendy quickly distanced themselves from the growing commotion and hid behind the bar.

"Why did Jellal have to agree to a fight?" Lucy groaned. "Oh well, as long as Erza's happy."

During the brawl, Jellal noticed Juvia staring at Gray and he decided to take matters into his own hands. Jellal roughly pulled Gray towards him and asked, "You want Juvia to start talking to you again?"

"Of course I do," Gray replied.

"Then get out of this fight and go to her, you idiot!" Jellal said. "I know that she loves you unconditionally but don't take her for granted. You need to make her feel special sometimes, Gray. So go and show her that she's what matters most."

"But what am I supposed to say to her?"

"You'll figure that out yourself. Now go!" Jellal said and he pushed Gray towards Juvia.

Juvia was evidently surprised to see Gray walking towards her. Jellal didn't know what Gray told her but he was happy to see Juvia widely smiling a few minutes later. Gray just needed a little push and Jellal was more than happy to be the one giving him that push.

While Jellal was busy looking at Juvia and Gray, Natsu took the opportunity to land a punch on him.

"You're going to pay for that," Jellal growled.

"Don't lose, Jellal!" Erza shouted. "You can do it!"

Jellal laughed. "Sure thing, honey!" he shouted back. "I'm all fired up!"

"Hey!" Natsu exclaimed. "That's my line!"

Within a few minutes, all the guild members were lying on the floor, defeated, while Jellal stood victorious.

"You should have known that this would happen, Natsu," Happy remarked.

"Damn..." Natsu groaned.

"There's no way any of you guys can beat me when Erza's cheering for me," Jellal said with a laugh.

Erza shook her head. Jellal was beginning to embarrass her now. But she looked at him fondly and admitted to herself that she wouldn't have it any other way. Jellal was the love of her life and he loved her too. And as long as that was the case, Erza wouldn't mind if he declared their love to the whole world.

Yes, she had got her happy ending at last.

* * *

**So, did you enjoy reading this story of mine? If you did, let me know. If not, let me know. Constructive criticism is welcome. And even though I don't think the characters are OOC, you're free to tell me if you think otherwise. After all, keeping everyone in character is a crucial part of writing fanfiction.**

**By the way, in one part of this story I mentioned how Erza thought that she had never managed to save Jellal and thus didn't understand why he was so grateful to her. I just wanted to tell you guys that I most certainly don't believe this and I know that Erza doesn't believe this either. In this story her mental state had clouded her mind and it ruined her judgement. That's why she thought Jellal had no reason to feel thankful. We all know why Jellal is grateful to Erza. It's because of her belief in him, her power to forgive and trust him once again, to encourage him and to give him the hope that he could indeed live on.**

**And lastly, I know this story's really long but please don't complain about me not splitting it into chapters. I kept it like this because I wanted to write a oneshot, that's all.**

**Okay then guys, read and review!**


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